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February 17
February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 317 days remaining (318 in leap years). Events * 197 - Battle of Lugdunum, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats his rival Clodius Albinus, securing full control over the Roman Empire. * 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt * 1621 - Miles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony. * 1753 - February 17 is followed by March 1 as Sweden moves to the Gregorian from the Julian calendar. * 1801 - An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives. * 1814 - Battle of Mormans * 1819 - The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise. * 1854 - The British recognize the independence of the Orange Free State. * 1865 - American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina burns as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces. * 1867 - The first ship passes through the Suez Canal. * 1895 - Swan Lake, one of the most famous and critically-acclaimed ballets, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was first performed at full length in Saint Petersburg, Russia. * 1913 - The Armory Show opens in New York City. It displays works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century. * 1924 - In Miami, Florida, Johnny Weissmuller sets a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle swimming competition with a time of 52-2/5 seconds. * 1933 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time. * 1933 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States. * 1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ended in an American victory on February 22. * 1947 - Propaganda: The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union. * 1955 - Christian Pineau becomes Prime Minister of France * 1957 - A fire at an elderly home in Warrenton, Missouri kills 72 people. * 1958 - Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare of Assisi (1193~1253) the patron saint of television * 1959 - The first weather satellite, Vanguard 2, was launched to measure cloud-cover distribution. * 1964 - In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population. * 1968 - In Springfield, Massachusetts the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens. * 1972 - Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of Ford Model-T ?(15 million). * 1974 - Robert Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House with a stolen helicopter. * 1979 - The Sino-Vietnamese War began. * 1992 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison. * 1995 - Colin Ferguson is convicted of six counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings and later receives a 200+ year sentence. * 1995 - The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ended on a cease-fire brokered by the UN. * 1996 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match. Births * 1609 - Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549) * 1653 - Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (d. 1713) * 1699 - Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, master builder (d. 1753) * 1752 - Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (d. 1831) * 1774 - Raphael Peale, painter * 1820 - Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian composer (d. 1881) * 1821 - Lola Montez, Mexican dancer, actress, friend of monarchs (d. 1861) * 1844 - Aaron Montgomery Ward, department store founder * 1854 - Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d. 1902) * 1864 - Banjo Paterson, Australian poet (d. 1941) * 1874 - Thomas J. Watson, computer pioneer, first president of IBM * 1877 - André Maginot, French politician, Maginot Line (d. 1932) * 1888 - Otto Stern, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1969) * 1906 - Mary Brian, American actress (d. 2002) * 1908 - Red Barber, baseball announcer, sports journalist (d. 1992) * 1910 - Marc Lawrence, American actor * 1912 - Andre Norton, author * 1914 - Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990) * 1919 - Kathleen Freeman, American actress (d. 2001) * 1920 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director * 1922 - Marshall Teague, race car driver (d. 1959) * 1924 - Margaret Truman, novelist, daughter of Harry S. Truman * 1925 - Hal Holbrook, actor * 1929 - Chaim Potok, author (d. 2002) * 1929 - Patricia Routledge, actress * 1930 - Ruth Rendell, writer * 1934 - Alan Bates, actor (d. 2003) * 1934 - Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patterson), Australian actor, comedian * 1936 - Jim Brown, American football star * 1937 - Rita Süssmuth, politician * 1939 - Mary Ann Mobley, American actress, Miss America *1940 - Christina Pickles, British actress * 1941 - Julia McKenzie, actress * 1941 - Gene Pitney, singer * 1942 - Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party * 1945 - Brenda Fricker, actress * 1948 - Rick Majerus, American basketball coach * 1953 - Norman Pace, actor, comic * 1954 - Rene Russo, American actress * 1956 - Richard Karn, American actor * 1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips, actor * 1962 - Alison Hargreaves, British mountaineer (d. 1995) * 1963 - Michael Jordan, basketball star * 1967 - Chanté Moore, American singer * 1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer and musician (Green Day) * 1972 - Philippe Candeloro, figure skater * 1972 - Denise Richards, actress * 1974 - Jerry O'Connell, actor * 1974 - Bryan White, American country music singer * 1975 - Vaclav Prospal, NHL hockey player * 1976 - Spectacular Bid, Thoroughbred race horse {d. 2003) * 1978 - Jacob Wetterling, kidnapping victim (missing since 1989) * 1980 - Jason Ritter, American actor * 1981 - Paris Hilton, actress and heiress to the Hilton Hotel chain Deaths * 197 - Clodius Albinus, would-be Roman emperor (killed in battle) * 364 - Jovian, Roman emperor (b. ca. 332) *1339 - Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria *1600 - Giordano Bruno, Italian religious reformer (burned at the stake) (b. 1548) *1673 - Molière, French playwright (b. 1622) *1680 - Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (b. 1637) *1854 - John Martin, English painter *1856 - Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797) *1883 - Napoleon Coste, French guitarist, composer (b. 1806) *1909 - Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829) *1919 - Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841) *1934 - King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875) *1943 - Armand J. Piron, jazz musician (b. 1888) *1962 - Bruno Walter, German conductor (b. 1876) *1962 - Joseph Kearns, American actor *1970 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer (b. 1888) *1982 - Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist (b. 1917) * 1982 - Lee Strasberg, acting teacher, actor *1994 - Randy Shilts, author, AIDS activist *1998 - Ernst Jünger, militaristic German author (b. 1895) *2001 - Khalid Abdul Muhammed, Nation of Islam spokesman *2004 - José López Portillo, former president of Mexico (b. 1920) *2005 - Dan O'Herlihy, Irish film actor (b. 1919) * 2005 - Nicephore Soglo, former President of Benin Holidays and observances *Roman Empire - Quirinalia in honor of Quirinus *Ancient Latvia - Tanis Diena observed *United States of America - Presidents Day External links * BBC: On This Day * Today in History: February 17 ---- January 17 - February 16 - February 18 - March 17 -- listing of all days category:February